Organic Universe

Thursday, October 23, 2014

A number of US oil companies are taking advantage of the so-called
“Halliburton Loophole” to circumvent federal legislature regulating
diesel-based fluids in fracking, instead exploiting the environment with
even more toxic chemicals, new report says.“Because of a gap in
the Safe Drinking Water Act, companies are allowed to inject
other petroleum products (beyond diesel) without a permit, and
many of these non-diesel drilling fluids contain even higher
concentrations of the same toxins found in diesel,”reportby the Environmental Integrity
Project released on Wednesday reads.

Titled “Fracking’s Toxic Loophole”, the report says that the 2005
Energy Policy Act authorities the Environmental Protection
Agency’s (EPA) to “regulate diesel-based fracking fluids
because of the toxicity of BTEX compounds” found in diesel.

However due to the so-called “Halliburton loophole” in the
legislature the federal government is not applying the same
protection standards to other fracking fluid other than
diesel-based.

Overall, the Halliburton Loophole represents a significant
reduction in federal oversight of drilling and fracking
operations, the report claims.
“This double standard illustrates what happens when Congress
manipulates environmental statutes for the benefit of polluters,
instead of allowing EPA to make public health decisions based on
the best available science,” the report reads.

Looking at the limited data available through FracFocus, Material
Safety Data Sheets, and state agency websites the study
discovered that at least six fracking fluid additives available
on the market contain more benzene than diesel fuel. In addition
another at least 21 fluids have much higher concentrations of
ethylbenzene than benzene. Chemicals on the market also have high
levels of xylene and toluene, which can lead to increased health
risks.

Citing FracFocus data, the study points out that at least 153
wells in 11 states were fracked with fluids “containing
ethylbenzene between January 2011 and September 2014.” Of
those, 77 wells were found in Oklahoma, 23 in North Dakota,
followed by Texas with 20 wells. The report says that it is not
clear how often these toxic petroleum products are being used.

Reuters / Jonathan Ernst

The documented cases include the injection of a mix of crude oil,
butane, and other fluids with up to 48,000 gallons of 4.1 percent
benzene into a well in Dimmit County, Texas by BlackBrush
O&G, LLC. While Discovery Operating Services, reported using
nearly 1,000 gallons of benzene in eleven wells in Midland and
Upland Counties in Texas.
“Benzene is known to increase cancer risk, and the Safe
Drinking Water Act Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) is designed to
limit exposure to no more than five parts per billion. However,
thanks to the Halliburton loophole, the Safe Drinking Act
regulates diesel-based fluids but no other petroleum products
with much higher benzene concentrations,” the report reads.

The study also cites a case in Oklahoma where Citation Oil and
Gas Corporation of Texas injected mix containing up to 4,538
gallons of ethylbenzene, “equivalent to the amount found in
nearly half a million gallons of diesel fuels.”
“Ethylbenzene is classified as a probable carcinogen, and
cancer risk is considered significant when concentrations exceed
the Maximum Contaminant Level of 0.7 parts per million in
drinking water,” the report says.

Eric Schaeffer Executive Director of the Environmental Integrity
Project and former Director of Civil Enforcement at EPA says that
the loophole must be repealed.
“To protect public health, Congress should repeal the
Halliburton Loophole and EPA should broaden the categories of
fracking fluids that require Safe Drinking Water Act permits,”
said Schaeffer.

“Without these reforms, we are perpetuating a
loophole that allows the unregulated injection of unlimited
quantities of highly toxic pollutants into the ground.”

Healthesound.info

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